No matter how fast your reflexes are, it is impossible to focus on your driving and focus on reading/texting at the same time. Quite literally impossible!

When your eyes are on the screen, they are off the road. And it only takes a lack of concentration for a second or two to become — or cause — a fatality.

Texting while driving must be illegal, no ifs, ands or buts. If the potential of death isn’t a sufficient deterrent, perhaps the loss of a driver’s license, a huge fine and jail time would do it. We must make the consequences so monumental that those who live in the text world will take it seriously.

John Fineberg, St. Paul

Too early for helicopters

We live just a couple of blocks from the homes that were destroyed by the tornado in Hugo. We were spared the devastation that others very close to us had to experience. After a long night of taking in the damage, helping where we could, talking with neighbors, and assuring family and friends that we were fine, the neighborhood was awakened around 6 a.m. by the sound of the news helicopters getting fresh video of the damage. Granted, a tornado is news, but by 7 p.m. the previous night, the sun was shining here. Every one of the news helicopters had been over this area for at least two to three hours after the tornado cleared out. Didn’t they get enough video of the damage during that time frame? Many families had a long night securing their homes and trying to get some rest after such an experience. The last thing they needed was to be awakened by the noise of the helicopters so early in the day.

Rick Anderson, Hugo

Safety first

The University of Minnesota is being pressured to accept an at-grade Washington Avenue route for the proposed Central Corridor light-rail system. This after being forced to abandon a tunnel design because of federal funding formulas. Although less expensive than the at-grade Washington Avenue route, the alternative Northern Alignment Route is also being criticized for failing to pass federal funding muster.

Washington Avenue is very congested, with extremely high pedestrian traffic, as it cuts through the university. Now many demand the Washington Avenue route, grasping for federal money while turning a blind eye to the safety risk of that route. But an inconvenient truth is that five people have died thus far on the original light-rail line.

Less than two years ago, St. Louis extended its light-rail system with two stops at Washington University. Both stops are underground for reasons of reduced traffic congestion and student safety.

Mark Schroepfer, St. Paul

Party’s almost over

Did it strike anyone else as odd the way John McCain released to the media his medical records, allowing only a limited time to view and take notes? The Straight Talk Express is running on empty.

For reporters, the atmosphere must have been like a cram-fest before finals at Arizona State University — lots of skimming and sweating and working up a good thirst.

Afterward, did glamorous Anheuser-Busch scion Cindy McCain graciously serve beer? If so, I’ll bet it was warm and flat, much like old Bush beer. This beer’s for you, bud. Thank God the Grand Old Party is almost over.

Jim Manion, St. Paul

Belt-tightening all around

I have read that some public funding for the Republican Convention was not provided by the state Legislature. In the light of many other vital programs that were not fully funded, such as our judicial system, legal council for the indigent, needs for education at all levels, and money to clean up our lakes and rivers, it seems that the Republican Convention deserved to be cut. Isn’t it most fitting that the party of Grover Norquist and “no new taxes” should follow the party line, which is “we all have to tighten out belts just as families must do.”

Maybe the folks who are for family values can donate the money they intended to spend in bars till 4 a.m. so that the shortage can eliminated.

John Baird, Oak Park Heights

The right attitude

I’ve decided to throw my support to Al Franken in the Senate election because Mr. Franken has demonstrated what I consider the right attitude about onerous state business taxes: Don’t pay them until you are forced; make the states come and get their money if they want it so badly.

John Diedrich, Burnsville

Diversionary tactics

Leonard Pitts Jr. was absolutely right in pointing out that racism is a “con job” that has been perpetrated by the rich and powerful, in order to prevent working people from uniting to assert their rights (“Over the years, many, but not all, have figured it out,” May 25). Pitts referred to the West Virginia primary but did not mention any candidate by name. I will. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s cynical and overt race-baiting, in which she equated “hard-working Americans” with “white” — and by implication, suggesting that nonwhites are lazy and shiftless — perpetuated that con job and effectively undid any progress we might have hoped for, following Sen. Barack Obama’s earlier speech on race relations. I don’t know why she would do so much damage to our society, unless she is planning to bolt the party, polish up her studied drawl (which I don’t think she picked up at Wellesley), and run in the fall as a Dixiecrat.

Mark Bradley, Roseville

Don’t blame

West Virginians

Mr. Pitts has no reason to be mad at the white folks from West Virginia. They didn’t turn this campaign into a contest of race … Obama did. When blacks moved away from all white contenders — including the Clintons they had always supported — they made this presidential contest about us vs. them. Maybe he needs to clean out his own closet before asking others to clean out theirs.

Nancy Lanthier Carroll, Roseville

Little relief

from Arctic drilling

Linda Runbeck argues that to deal with the high cost of gasoline Congress should open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling (“On energy, aim matters,” May 23).

Yet in a news section that very same day ran a story called “Arctic drilling’s effect on prices discounted; report sees 75 cents-a-barrel savings.” This article went on to say that the Department of Energy (under the Bush administration) projects only a 75-cent-a-BARREL savings if we open the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Who is Ms. Runbeck trying to kid? The real benefit to opening the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would be to the oil companies — not the American people.

Jim Piga, St. Paul

We should have

seen it coming

Have you ever heard the old saying about having your cake and eating it too? In the name of environmentalism, the U.S. has spent the last 20 to 30 years trying to do that by not drilling for oil in the Gulf, in Alaska or in any of the other potential oil reserve areas. No new refineries have been built. We could have built some nuclear power plants, as France has, but no one wants one in their back yard. Ethanol and wind farms and other things help but won’t be able to fill all our needs.

Now when other oil-producing countries are charging more for their oil, we grumble and complain but have given ourselves no recourse. Wake up, people, and think. We have been doing it to ourselves. We should all have seen it coming years ago.

D.M. Wolfgram, Maplewood

How high a price have we paid?

Sunday’s editorial cartoon about high costs hits home. As we all sit back and complain about the high cost of fuel, food and just about every other consumer good offered to us these days, I think we really need to reflect on all the service men and women over time who have ultimately paid the highest cost imaginable, their lives.

Brad Brandt, Woodbury

A slow burn

If you want to really get burned up, head north on Central Avenue from I-694. The lights there have left-turn arrows, but the southbound left-turn arrows don’t work together with the northbound ones, so if you have a green arrow and are going north, the left-turn arrow for the southbound lane is red, causing an even longer wait and waste of gas. What fool set up the lights to work this way?

Jerry La Shomb, Shoreview

Assess away

On April 4, the Pioneer Press ran an article about Ramsey County property owners requesting reviews of the proposed estimated market values of their properties. I was one of the property owners interviewed for the piece. As a first-time homeowner, I was not sure what to expect when I arrived at the Ramsey County Assessor’s Office.

The entire process was smooth and well-organized. An assessor called me the very same day to set up an appointment to assess my house. After a thorough inspection, he promised to work with the computerized models to find a way to bring down my house’s estimated market value.

A few weeks later, I received a letter informing me that they had lowered my house’s value. I was very pleased with the entire process and would recommend it to anyone who has questions about his or her property taxes.

Anna Pletscher, St. Paul

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